IRNA - An urban development specialist said the location of Golestan Palace has created a specific condition for this historical establishment against earthquake, Public Relations Office of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT) reported.


Omid Reza Safiyari made the remarks at the first conference on retrofitting historical monuments against earthquake.

RICHT quoted Safiyari as referring to the seismic study of the Almas (Diamond) mansion in the Golestan Palace world complex as well as the physical safety and reroofing of the historical buildings.

Stressing that the Golestan Palace comprises of several buildings that have been built on the basis of different methods and materials, he said the Almas mansion has been constructed at the time of Fathalishah Qajar as an interior building.

Pointing to the construction methods at different periods and resistive methods used in them, Safiyari further noted that with the measures taken so far and the maps that have been prepared parts that could sustain more damage at the time of earthquake have been identified.

Safiyari pointed out that in Iran there is a large treasure of different structures of
cultural heritage and underlined the need for preparation of common guidelines for studies in this regard as currently different companies are practicing different methods.

Meanwhile, Professor Toshikazu Hanazato, another speaker of the session commented on retrofitting railway stations in Japan and said repair works and retrofitting of a railway station building had taken place without any interruption in the operation of trains.

He then outlined the process of upgrading seismic safety of historical monuments in Japan and repair works in historical establishments in his country and presented some of the completed projects in this field.

Referring to a railway station built of brick and steel he said the building could resist the earthquake of 1923 in Japan but that its dome had collapsed in the course of World War II.

According to him, repair works and retrofitting measures for this building took place at a time that no interruption was made in the movement of the trains.

Professor Hanazato continued by referring to some of the intervention methods such as using backup support, round rings, horizontal reinforcement in walls, retrofitting openings, etc. and said these are the common intervention methods.

Referring to the new intervention methods, he cited the silk production plant in Japan as an example which was designed by the French in 1872 and has been recently registered as a world heritage.

He pointed to the structural system employed in this building as wooden frames filled with bricks and noted that the earthquake test was practiced in the first stages as the main problem in these examples is the movement outside the frame of the walls.

Hanazato also referred to a building which is among the national heritage of Japan and was damaged in the 9 Richter earthquake of 2011 and said in the repair works of the building the three-dimension analysis has been used which showed that a large number of the openings have caused the damage.

He noted that the previously mentioned technology was adopted in this building and as a result of the outcome achieved, the walls were enforced with armatures, a horizontal structure was added and a concrete cross beam and a number of fittings were used horizontally in the walls.

Another speaker of the session, Professor Paulo Lorenzo, said in retrofitting a building there is a general rule; either no action should not be taken for retrofitting buildings and as a result witness a damage of two thirds; or basic measures should be taken to minimize the damage and thereby increase the number of buildings which are protected.

Referring to the Charter ISCARSAH (International Committee on Analysis and Restoration of Structures of Cultural Heritage), he stressed that in accordance with the Charter all should adhere to some principles and practice the intervention with an aim of protecting the originality.

Professor Lorenzo further remarked, “In retrofitting a building we should accurately know what is the problem, for example many primary cracks in the arches have no problem but this does not mean that the structure is safe or unsafe and through research we should find out the main reason for such cracks.”

According to Lorenzo in the absence of a sound understanding of the cause of the damage, the retrofitting design will lead to a disaster.